GAME INFO:
October 9, 2021
3:30 pm Kickoff
Kenan Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 50,500)
Chapel Hill, NC
TV: ESPN
UNC 88.6% chance to win according to ESPN
UNC is a 17.5 point favorite
RECORDS:
UNC 3-2 (2-2 in ACC) Coming off a 38-7 win vs. Duke
FSU 1-4 (1-2 in the ACC) Coming off a 33-30 win vs Syracuse
TEAM LEADERS:
RB:
FSU: J. Corbin 62 carries, 504 yards, 8.1 yards per carry, 4 TD (3rd in ACC in rushing)
UNC: Ty Chandler 74 carries, 423 yards, 4 TD, 5.7 yards per carry (7th in ACC in rushing)
WR:
FSU: O. Wilson 9 receptions for 133 yards, 1 TD (Not in top 10 in ACC)
UNC: Josh Downs 40 receptions for 620 yards, 6 TDs (1st in ACC in receiving yards)
QB COMPARISON:
Jordan Travis has 368 yards, 6 TDs, 5 INT. 43 carries for 145 yards, 1TD (Not in top 10 in ACC)
Mckenzie Milton has 548 yards, 2 TDs, 4 INT. 20 carries for 0 yards (Not in top 10 in ACC)
Sam Howell has 1,494 yards, 14 TDs, 4 INTs. 68 carries for 288 yards, 3 TDS (3rd in ACC in passing yards)
QUICK HITTERS
FSU leads all time series 16-3-1
Carolina and Florida State are meeting for the 21st time
Saturday marks the first game between the two ACC rivals in Chapel Hill since 2009. The three most recent meetings took place in Tallahassee in 2010, 2016 and 2020.
The last four games in the series have seen each team win twice with UNC coming out on top in 2010 and 2016, while FSU were winners in 2009 and 2020.
All four games have been decided by three points or less. The combined score of the four games has FSU enjoying a slim 131-129 advantage.
Carolina is 1-7 all-time at home against the Seminoles, the lone win coming in 2001.
Carolina's first win in the FSU series was a 41-9 victory over the No. 6 Seminoles in 2001. At the time, it was the highest ranked opponent Carolina had ever defeated according to the AP poll records. Three years later in 2004, the Tar Heels knocked off No. 4 Miami.
UNC's last win in the series came in 2016 when Nick Weiler made a 54-yard field goal as time expired to knock off the 12th-ranked Noles then proceeded to tomahawk chop around the field. Iconic.
FSU has been ranked in all but three of the previous 20 meetings.
Mack Brown has never beaten his alma mater in 10 previous meetings with Florida State. He lost three matchups at Tulane between 1985-87 and is 0-7 during his time in Chapel Hill.
The Noles have had a rollercoaster season so far. They took Notre Dame to overtime and almost completed a come from behind victory, but fell short. They then lost to Jacksonville St. They dropped 2 ACC games against Wake Forest and Louisville before getting their first win last week against Syracuse. Not to be dramatic, but this game has a little bit of the same feel as the Georgia Tech game. A team that we can easily overlook and a team that has played 2 QBs so far this year. Jordan Travis started the Notre Dame game until Mckenzie Milton came in and almost led them to victory. Milton received the majority of the snaps in the Jacksonville St loss but Travis did see some playing time, he went 0-3. Milton again got the majority of the snaps against Wake Forest, Travis went 5-6 for 107 yards. Milton got all the snaps in the loss to Louisville. Jordan Travis got all the snaps in the win against Syracuse and went 22-32 for 131 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT, 19 carries for 113 yards. He was the leading rusher. I would expect Travis to get the start this game, but if he isn’t performing we need to be ready to see Mckenzie Milton. If one of the players admits that they didn’t prepare for both QBs after this game then Bateman needs to be fired on the spot.
Travis is a better runner than Milton and this is a team that has said they want to run the football. They are first in ACC in yards per rush and Jashaun Corbin ranks 1st in the ACC and 4th nationally with his average of 8.13 yards per carry this season. His ACC lead is more than 1.5 yards per rush as the next-closest ACC rusher is averaging 6.51 yards per rush. In records dating back to 2000, his average is 4th-highest among all ACC rushers through the first five games of a season with a minimum of 60 carries. FSU has produced a 100-yard rusher in four of its first five games of 2021. Running back Jashaun Corbin has three 100-yard games, the 3rd-highest total in the ACC, and quarterback Jordan Travis has one 100-yard game. They had multiple players get carries against Syracuse. Treshaun Ward had 2 carries for 66 yards. Jashaun Corbin had 14 carries for 65 yards and 1 TD. FSU is not a good passing team and their leading receiver for the Syracuse game was McDonald with 5 receptions for 41 yards. He did have 1 touchdown. Treshaun Ward had 5 rec for 29 yards. Keyshawn Helton had 2 rec for 26 yards and 1 TD. Jashaun Corbin had 5 rec for 14 yards. Jordan Travis broke Florida State’s program record for career rushing yards by a quarterback during his career-high 113-yard performance against Syracuse. If you need it spelled out after that then here ya go… THEY ARE GOING TO RUN THE FOOTBALL.
Florida State is tied for 4th in the country with five plays of at least 60 yards this season. FSU’s two rushing plays of at least 70 yards are 1st in the ACC and tied for 3rd nationally. The Seminoles were a perfect 6-for-6 in the Red Zone against Syracuse, scoring four touchdowns and two field goals. FSU is at the bottom of the league in almost statistical category, but their win against Syracuse has given them some momentum.
Mack Brown stated that the defense probably played its most complete game since his return to Chapel Hill against Duke with 5 sacks which brought our season total to 11. We almost got the same amount of sacks we had so far this season in one game. The ability on the defensive line is there, but has been underwhelming at times. Stopping Travis from running will be a huge key to this game. FSU is clearly a better rushing team then they are a passing team. Make them throw the football. Kelly is one of the highest rated safeties in the game right now and not many people throw at Grimes and are successful. Preparing for the possibility of seeing two quarterbacks will also be huge, hopefully Batemen learned his lesson after the miserable performance in Atlanta.
Our offense rebounded from a dismal performance against Georgia Tech, which is probably the sole reason we are favored by 17.5 points. Our offensive line continues to struggle and Mack tried to plug and play with different pieces and really has yet to find a consistent group. Where is the group that opened holes for probably the best pair of running backs in college football last year? FSU has shown the ability to get to the quarterback and Jermaine Johnson is going to be a huge factor. The redshirt senior DE has 38 tackles, 8 of those are for a loss, and he has 6 sacks. He ranks 1st in the ACC in sacks, and is 2nd in the country in that category as well. Johnson is also tied for 1st in the ACC and 7th nationally in total tackles for loss. As a unit, FSU’s defensive talent is pretty spread out. They have 15 players with 10+ tackles and have playmakers at every level. Check out the list below:
#10 Jammie Robinson (33 tackles, 4 for loss) DB Redshirt Sophomore
#20 Kalen DeLoach (32 tackles, 1 sack) LB Redshirt Sophomore
#33 Amari Gainer (30 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 sack) LB Redshirt Sophomore
#46 DJ Lundy (27 tackles, 2 for loss) LB Redshirt Freshman
#23 Sidney Williams (22 tackles, 1 INT) DB Redshirt Freshman
#18 Travis Jay (2 INTs) DB Redshirt Freshman
#55 Derrick McLendon II (8 tackles, 2 for loss, 2 sacks) DE Redshirt Freshman
In the last six quarters FSU’s defense has held opponents to only 3-of-20 (.150) on 3rd-down conversion attempts and 0-for-4 (.000) on 4th-down conversion attempts. The Seminoles rank 5th in the ACC and tied for 35th in the NCAA with an average of 2.80 sacks per game. Translation… PROTECT SAM HOWELL.
Sam Howell is probably the best quarterback in the nation when he is protected and if he can find the best receiver in the ACC, Josh Downs. I am convinced that there aren't many defenders who can keep up with Downs, if he gets the ball in open space he probably makes it to the end zone more times than not. Ty Chandler showed his passing catching ability out of the backfield against Duke. A skill that was highly praised coming out of Tennessee and wasn't really used until last week. It could become a crucial part of the passing game. Morales continues to impress me at tight end, he's big but nibble, bimble. He needs to work on his blocking though. I think the intermediate passing game should be heavily utilized in this game, along with Chandler’s ability as a pass catcher, due to FSU’s ability to bring pressure. Get the ball out of Howell’s hand quickly and move the sticks. Doubling Johnson probably wouldn’t be a bad option either. Walston is a better blocker than Morales so I would expect him to play a huge role in this game. I would imagine DJ Jones will get the majority of the snaps behind Chandler. Hood is still in question due to injury and his blocking skills aren’t up to par yet. So the keys to the game are fairly simple… PROTECT HOWELL AND STOP THE RUN.
THINGS TO WATCH:
Will FSU use both Travis and Milton?
How do we contain Jermaine Johnson?
Does Longo call more immediate pass plays?
Which receivers step up behind Downs?
How many players do we put in the box to stop the run?
GAMES TO WATCH
Ah the Red River rivalry in the Cotton Bowl. Hook ‘em horns. ESPN is giving Oklahoma a 56.9% chance to win and the Sooners are currently 3 point favorites. This game may be at a “neutral site” but it's still in Texas. Texas needs a big win and Oklahoma doesn’t have a good defense. I would love for the Horns to ruin Oklahoma’s CFP chances this Saturday. I’m tired of hearing about Spencer Rattler and Lincoln Riley.
Maryland (4-1) @ #7 Ohio State (4-1) 12pm Fox
The Terps are 4-1 but got blown out by Iowa last week. This game is at Ohio State and ESPN isn’t given the Terps much of a chance. Ohio State opens up as a 21 point favorite. Ohio St. has had some problems on defense though.
Both teams are looking for a bounceback win after getting throttled by the top 2 teams in the country last week. Arkansas lost to Georgia and Ole Miss lost to Alabama. Ole Miss opens up as a 5.5 point favorite at home. Do the razorbacks have enough to stop Matt Corral and Ole Miss’ offense?
Georgia gets a ranked team for a second weekend in a row. Georgia starts out as 15.5 point favorites on the road. Auburn is still looking for a big win this season as they played hard but fell short at Penn St. Can Bo Nix work up some magic or do the dawgs destroy another SEC opponent?
This is the game of the week hands down. Why it isn’t at a better time is beyond me. This game is at Iowa and they open as 1.5 point favorites. This game will determine the front runner for the Big Ten’s CFP hopes. I know some of ya’ll will be in Kenan or glued to the TV watching the game, but if you have a second screen have this game on.
#14 Notre Dame (4-1) @ Virginia Tech (3-1) 7:30pm ACCN
It seems like a while since Virginia Tech played a game worth paying attention to. Their last game was 9/25 and the last big game was back on 9/18 and it was a 21-27 loss at WVU. ESPN is giving Notre Dame a 53.1% chance to win and the spread is currently even. If this game was at Notre Dame, I think the story is a little different, but we know first hand the advantage a packed Lane Stadium will give the Hokies. This game does nothing for the ACC standings though.
#1 Alabama (5-0) @ Texas A&M (3-2) 8pm CBS
This is almost the game that wasn’t at this point in the season. Jimbo Fisher talked so much about this being the year that he would beat Nick Saban. Well his starting QB got hurt and now they are 3-2 and 0-2 in the SEC. The game is in College Station though, but that is about the only thing the Aggies have going for them. Fisher and the Aggies are pretty desperate for a big win though. Alabama opens up as a 18 point favorite on the road.
ACC GAMES:
Georgia Tech (2-3) @ Duke (3-2) 12:30pm ESPN3
Virginia (3-2) @ Louisville (3-2) 3pm ACCN
#19 Wake Forest (5-0) @ Syracuse (3-2) 3:30pm ESPN2
A FRIENDLY REMINDER…
We are all on the same team. Whether you went to undergrad at UNC, went to graduate school at UNC or are just simply a fan for whatever reason you have, We are all on the same side. And that side is supporting and cheering for UNC Athletics. Nothing else matters. Unless you treat people like shit then yeah that matters. But anyway the focus is the common bond of supporting a team and a program. Remember that.
PERSONAL PLUG:
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AND AS ALWAYS GO HEELS!
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